Foreign direct investment (FDI) into China contracted by a smaller percentage in June, the second straight month it has done so, signaling that the economy was poised to crawl out from the debilitating effects of the global downturn.

According to statistics released yesterday by the Ministry of Commerce, China's FDI in June contracted by 6.8 percent from a year earlier, to $8.96 billion. The number of newly approved foreign enterprises fell only by 3.8 percent to 2,529.

The decline began to ease off in May, when FDI contracted by 17.8 percent. It was minus 22.5 percent in April.